[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 24, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5196-H5198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD INQUIRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, there's been a great deal of wailing and 
gnashing of teeth, it seems lately, in response to a letter that five 
of us signed to five different inspectors general, five different 
departments of the U.S. Government. Despite the effort to distract, 
despite the wild accusations that have come about five separate letters 
that were quite factual, set out things that were footnoted, documented 
as true, we were simply asking inspectors general of the different 
departments if they would investigate about potential Muslim 
Brotherhood effects within those departments.
  I have been amazed. Out of five letters to five different 
departments, each one of them different, each one of them dealing with 
facts that were in each particular department, we have been met with 
this frenzy from some quarters, including some of the mainstream media, 
to demonize people that are just simply asking questions. Actually, we 
used to have a mainstream media that would ask questions.
  Also, when you look at the fact that in 1995, the defendants charged 
with involvement in the 1993 first World Trade Center bombing were 
tried, and as the prosecutor, the Federal prosecutor in that case, a 
brilliant guy named Andrew McCarthy has set out in one of his articles, 
we proved, we introduced evidence and proved beyond a reasonable doubt 
that the intention of these people, these radical Islamist groups, was 
to bring down this country.

[[Page H5197]]

  As Andy has properly asked, since we proved beyond a reasonable doubt 
to a great group of jurors in New York about the effort of these 
radical Islamists, Islamic jihadists, to bring down America, what's 
happened since 1995 that all of a sudden this administration says, oh, 
no, forget what was proved beyond a reasonable doubt to New Yorkers in 
1995 and been upheld, you can't believe that? Don't look at the factual 
evidence behind the curtain, for heaven's sake; just look at what we're 
telling you, and we're telling you there is no Muslim Brotherhood 
involvement in America, and there's no Muslim Brotherhood effect or 
influence in this administration.
  But that is deeply troubling because we know from the Holy Land 
Foundation trial in Dallas, that was well tried in 2008, and 
convictions on over 100 different charges, and they established, they 
named defendants, proved beyond a reasonable doubt about the charges of 
their support for terrorism, and they also named numerous parties as 
co-conspirators in support of terrorism, and the Justice Department was 
involved in that, the Attorney General's Office was involved, and they 
proved beyond a reasonable doubt that there were Muslim Brotherhood 
groups who were supporting terrorism in America. At least they proved 
beyond a reasonable doubt the defendants were involved in supporting 
terrorism, and then basically--it might be deemed or called a 
preponderance of the evidence--that others who were not indicted, but 
were named, such as CAIR and ISNA, the Islamic Society of North 
America, in that case, the evidence was produced to establish that the 
Islamic Society of North America is the largest Muslim Brotherhood 
front group in America.
  And some of us who simply signed a letter asking questions? Look, how 
about doing an investigation to see what the influence of the Muslim 
Brotherhood is in this administration? Because previously, including 
through the prosecution in November of 2008 of the largest terrorism 
support allegations in American history, it was established the Muslim 
Brotherhood is alive and well and having influence in America.
  Yet, the Islamic Society of North America's President, Imam Magid, 
has been a guest at the White House, and, in fact, if someone, I guess 
because they regularly don't do their homework, were to check, as I 
have in the past, I don't know if it's still there, there were a couple 
of times I checked in the past couple of years, but if you were to 
check with the White House Web site, you would find that the number two 
person in the National Security Administration, the Deputy National 
Security Adviser, Denis McDonough, was giving a speech to a group 
called ADAMS--I'm sure John Adams appreciated the reference--but ADAMS, 
the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, and there is the transcript of his 
speech. I don't know if it's still up. Like I said, it's on the White 
House Web site. And Denis McDonough, the number two guy, the deputy 
national security adviser, thanks President Imam Magid, the president 
of ISNA, the named co-conspirator for supporting terrorism, for the 
wonderful prayers he gave at the Iftar celebration in the White House 
the August before, Iftar being the celebration that concludes Ramadan.
  So we know the President of the largest, according to evidence in the 
Holy Land Foundation, the largest Muslim Brotherhood front trial, the 
president gets invited to the White House to do prayers for their Iftar 
celebration. And we also know Denis McDonough thanked Iman Magid for 
the wonderful introduction there at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society.
  So it's a little troubling not only that this influence is there, but 
then when five Members of Congress raise a question, how about an 
investigation to see what this influence is? Because we know minds are 
changing, although the evidence has not changed that was introduced in 
1995 and 2008.
  Our good friend down the Hall, Senator McCain, chastised us. Yet, if 
you believe quotes, and sometimes you can't, but he was quoted as 
saying at the beginning of the trouble in Egypt that he was, and he 
used the word, according to the article, unalterably opposed to any 
support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

                              {time}  2130

  Well, if that was the word then, the word now is altered 
unalterability because it appears that he sees no problem with what's 
going forward. If he does, then my apologies if he now objects to any 
assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood. But it's my impression that he 
didn't have a problem with this administration's help to Egypt now.
  So when we see the things that have gone on--the things that have 
been introduced and proven in court and the Fifth Circuit saying, no, 
you cannot strike those names from the pleading because there's 
sufficient evidence to establish that they were supporting terrorism, 
so, no, you can't strike those named co-conspirators from the 
pleadings--and somehow five Members of Congress are the bad guys for 
saying let's investigate.
  What influence has this group had--and I know from back in my 
questioning of the Secretary of Homeland Security last October, when I 
was asking if it was true that there were some members of the Muslim 
Brotherhood who were part of her Countering Violent Extremism Working 
Group that advises Homeland Security on how to deal with what some of 
us would call ``radical Islamic jihad,'' but which Homeland Security 
now calls ``violent extremism''--apparently not wanting to offend 
people who are wanting to commit radical Islamic jihad on our country. 
But I asked her in that hearing in October last year about that, and 
she points out that actually she has another individual in charge of 
the Countering Violent Extremism Working Group, so she doesn't really 
know if they have Muslim Brotherhood members as a part of that.
  I asked her this question: All right. Are you aware that the 
president of ISNA, Imam Magid, is a member of that working group. 
Correct?
  Secretary Napolitano: I can't answer that that is an accurate 
statement.
  So she doesn't know whether the president of what's been established 
in court as the largest Muslim Brotherhood front group in America is 
part of her advisory group at Homeland Security.
  Of course it was interesting in our hearing last week, she also 
indicated that there had not been a terrorist that had been allowed 
into the White House with the Egyptian recent group, when we had been 
reading in the paper that there had--of course, that may not be a good 
source because they were mainstream papers--but we had been reading 
that there was a member of a known terrorist group that was allowed 
into the White House and that he used that platform to lobby for the 
release of the blind sheik who had assisted in planning the 1993 World 
Trade Center bombing.
  So I thought it might be helpful, Mr. Speaker, tonight to just touch 
base regarding the timeline that Investors Business Daily sponsored. It 
was an editorial. It was dated July 19, 2012, posted at 6:46 p.m. 
eastern time. And it can be found at investors.com, Mr. Speaker. But 
it's entitled, ``How Obama Engineered Mideast Radicalization.'' And 
then it goes through, and after preliminary paragraphs, it just sets 
out a timeline for things that have happened.
  I hope my friends, who have been so quick to condemn and ridicule, 
and even people who are on committees who should know about these 
things and should know about the evidence in the Holy Land Foundation 
trial where Muslim Brotherhood ties were established, and they should 
know about the proof in 1995 at the World Trade Center first trial of 
the defendants that did that. I would think they would be welcoming, 
since there are many people who are not aware of what the evidence was 
in those. They would welcome input from someone as well versed as the 
prosecutor from the 1995 World Trade Center trial.
  So this is from Investors Business Daily, an editorial. It says:

       The Obama record: After angry Egyptians pelted her 
     motorcade with shoes chanting ``Leave!,'' Secretary of State 
     Clinton insisted the U.S. wasn't there to take sides. Too 
     late.
       ``I want to be clear that the United States is not in the 
     business, in Egypt, of choosing winners and losers, even if 
     we could, which of course we cannot,'' Hillary Clinton 
     intoned earlier this week.
       Of course, the administration could, and it did, picking 
     and even colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood. And one of 
     its

[[Page H5198]]

     hardliners, Mohammed Morsif, now sits in the presidential 
     palace, where he refused to shake unveiled Clinton's hand.
       This administration favored Islamists over secularists and 
     helped them overthrow Hosni Mubarak, the reliable U.S. ally 
     who had outlawed the terrorist Brotherhood and honored the 
     peace pact with Israel for three decades. The Brotherhood, in 
     contrast, has backed Hamas and called for the destruction of 
     Israel.
       Now the administration is dealing with the consequences of 
     its misguided king-making. Officials fear the new regime 
     could invite al Qaeda, now run by an Egyptian exile, back 
     into Egypt and open up a front with Israel along the Sinai. 
     Result: more terrorists and higher gas prices.
       In fact, it was Hillary's own Department that helped train 
     Brotherhood leaders for the Egyptian elections. Behind the 
     scenes, she and the White House made a calculated decision 
     and took step-by-step actions to effectively sell out Israel 
     and U.S. interests in the Mideast to the Islamists.
       The untold story of the ``Arab Spring'' is that the Obama 
     administration secretly helped bring Islamofascists to power. 
     Consider this timeline:
       2009: The Brotherhood's spiritual leader--Sheik Yusuf 
     Qaradawi--writes an open letter to Obama arguing terrorism is 
     a direct response to U.S. foreign policy.
       2009: Obama travels to Cairo to deliver apologetic speech 
     to Muslims and infuriates the Mubarak regime by inviting 
     banned Brotherhood leaders to attend. Obama deliberately 
     snubs Mubarak, who was neither present nor mentioned. He also 
     snubs Israel during Mideast trip.
       2009: Obama appoints a Brotherhood-tied Islamist--Rashad 
     Hussain--as U.S. envoy to the Organization of the Islamic 
     Conference, which supports the Brotherhood.

  The Organization of Islamic Conference, by the way, the OIC, it isn't 
in the article, but it is composed of 57 states. Fifty-seven Muslim 
states make up the OIC, and that's what is being referred to there.

       2010: State Department lifts visa ban on Tariq Ramadan, 
     suspected terrorist and Egyptian-born grandson of Brotherhood 
     founder Hassan al-Banna.
       2010: Hussein meets with Ramadan at American-sponsored 
     conference attended by U.S. and Brotherhood officials.
       2010: Hussein meets with the Brotherhood's grand mufti in 
     Egypt.
       2010: Obama meets one-on-one with Egypt's foreign minister, 
     Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who later remarks on Nile TV: ``The 
     American President told me in confidence that he is a 
     Muslim.''
       2010: The Brotherhood's supreme guide calls for jihad 
     against the U.S.
       2011: Qaradawi calls for ``days of rage'' against Mubarak 
     and other pro-Western regimes throughout Mideast.

                              {time}  2140

       2011: Riots erupt in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Crowds 
     organized by the Brotherhood demand Mubarak's ouster, storm 
     buildings.
       2011: The White House fails to back longtime ally Mubarak, 
     who flees Cairo.
       2011: White House sends intelligence czar, James Clapper, 
     to Capitol Hill to whitewash the Brotherhood's extremism. 
     Clapper testifies the group is moderate, ``largely secular.''
       2011: Qaradawi, exiled from Egypt for 30 years, is given a 
     hero's welcome in Tahrir Square, where he raises the banner 
     of jihad.
       2011: Through his State Department office, William Taylor--
     Clinton's special coordinator for Middle East transitions and 
     a longtime associate of Brotherhood apologists--gives 
     Brotherhood and other Egyptian Islamists special training to 
     prepare for the post-Mubarak elections.
       2011: The Brotherhood wins control of Egyptian Parliament, 
     vows to tear up Egypt's 30-year peace treaty with Israel and 
     reestablishes ties with Hamas, Hezbollah.
       2011: Obama gives Mideast speech demanding Israel 
     relinquish land to Palestinians, while still refusing to 
     visit Israel.

  And parenthetically, we know that the administration has now said if 
we'll just give him another term, then the next 4 years he will go see 
Israel.
  Back to the article:

       2011: Justice Department pulls plug on further prosecution 
     of U.S.-based Brotherhood front groups identified as 
     collaborators in conspiracy to funnel millions to Hamas.
       2011: In a shocking first, the State Department formalizes 
     ties with Egypt's Brotherhood, letting diplomats deal 
     directly with Brotherhood party officials in Cairo.
       April 2012: The administration quietly releases $1.5 
     billion in foreign aid to the new Egyptian regime.
       June 2012: Morsi wins presidency amid widespread reports of 
     electoral fraud and voter intimidation by gun-toting 
     Brotherhood thugs, including blockades of entire streets to 
     prevent Christians from going to the polls. The Obama 
     administration turns a blind eye, recognizes Morsi as victor.
       June 2012: In a victory speech, Morsi vows to instate 
     shari'ah law, turning Egypt into an Islamic theocracy, and 
     also promises to free jailed terrorists. He also demands 
     Obama free World Trade Center terrorist and Brotherhood 
     leader, Omar Abdel-Rahman, aka the Blind Sheik, from U.S. 
     prison.
       June 2012: State grants visa to banned Egyptian terrorists 
     who joins a delegation of Brotherhood officials from Egypt. 
     They're all invited to the White House to meet with Obama's 
     deputy national security adviser, who listens to their 
     demands for the release of the blind sheik.

  By the way, in the hearing last week, when I asked our Secretary of 
Homeland Security about that incident, widely reported, even the 
mainstream media was reporting it, that a member of a known terrorist 
organization was given access to the White House, she indicated that it 
just wasn't true, apparently, not knowing the news that was happening 
just across town from her Department.
  In any event, back to the article:

       July 2012: Obama invites Morsi to visit the White House 
     this September.
       The Muslim Brotherhood's sudden ascendancy in the Mideast 
     didn't happen organically. It was helped along by a U.S. 
     President sympathetic to its interests over those of Israel 
     and his own country.

  Now, that's the Investor's Business Daily editorial from July 19 of 
2012.
  I was shocked to previously find out that it was not until 2009 that 
our FBI sent a letter saying they were suspending their relationship, 
one place it referred, I believe the word ``partner'' with CAIR, CAIR 
being a named co-defendant related to Muslim Brotherhood activity and 
related to support for terrorism abroad.
  It referred to the convictions in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial 
and the evidence that was introduced at the trial, but what shocked me 
is that they waited till after a conviction, when the Justice 
Department was the one that was gathering this evidence. They'd been 
gathering it for years.
  And I was amazed that they seemed surprised--or whether or not they 
were surprised, they didn't do anything to sever ties with CAIR, which 
seems to be, with the ACLU, the most influential in getting this 
administration to purge its training documents for the people that are 
supposed to protect us, of anything that might be considered offensive 
to someone who was a Muslim Brotherhood member or Islamist.
  Now, I've visited with Muslims abroad. A man named Massoud, whose 
brother was assassinated just within 36 hours of 9/11, I consider him a 
friend. He knows about sacrifice.
  The State Department said they simply could not spare the security to 
get me and anyone else to a meeting with our Muslim friends who have 
fought with Americans, buried their loved ones like Americans have from 
fighting in Afghanistan, these are our friends. And I told our State 
Department, that's fine; I talked to Massoud, and he's sending a 
security vehicle, and I am certainly willing to put my life in his 
hands because I trust him. He's a Muslim friend.
  I told them I was going, after we finished meeting with our troops. 
And after we met with our troops, I was advised, we've arranged for an 
American security vehicle to take you, and we have contacted Mr. 
Massoud to let him know we would get you to the meeting.
  We should never be afraid of Muslims, but we should be afraid of 
Muslim extremists that want to take over our country and destroy our 
way of life. It is critical that our intelligence, our Justice 
Department, those who are supposed to be protecting us, even in the 
White House, that they know the difference between our Muslim friends 
and those who want to subvert the democracy in America.
  I make no apologies for that. I can't. I took an oath to defend this 
Constitution. I can't apologize for loving America enough that I will 
recognize those who are Muslim friends and those who are not.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________